


paradise lost

by slingshot



Series: Awaken The World [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Alternate Universe - Prison, Anal Sex, Angst, Based on the Turn Back Time music video, Blasphemy, M/M, Mentioned WayV Ensemble, Minor yuwin, One Shot, Soulmates, no beta we die like men, set in post-apocalyptic space, wayv have powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:13:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25246687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slingshot/pseuds/slingshot
Summary: “What is holding you back? Don’t you want to leave this hellhole? What could possibly scare the mighty Leviathan?”“Heights, that’s why they put me in here when the only way to escape is up.” Hendery says resigned. “Also, i fucking hate frogs”Lucifer barks out a laugh. “That’s makes the two of us.”-Captured for being a Reborn, Hendery is condemned to spend his days trapped in the pit. A new addition to his cell has Hendery on guard, but the fallen angel brings more than temptation. A new plan is hatched and relationships are developed. Fate will be overwritten.
Relationships: Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Series: Awaken The World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829044
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	paradise lost

**Author's Note:**

> T/N: Title inspired by John Milton’s Paradise Lost & wayv’s Only Human

A large white feather slowly lands on a surface of a pool framed delicately by green vines. It sends ripples across the still dark liquid.

At the disturbance, a wet mop of hair cautiously raises from under the surface. Wide, big eyes peek out under moist brown bangs while water continues to cloak the rest of the creature. He stares at the currently floating feather with quiet distrust.

Where did it come from? Judging by the size, it could be from a large bird. Maybe Hendery was not as alone as he initially thought. 

He looks up at the endless darkness above. If he squints hard enough, he could make out the tiny light at the end.

A slight glimmer.

But maybe that is his mind playing tricks, a hallucination birthed from his subconscious. He was too used to the red light cast on his small octagon shaped pool and the surrounding darkness. Any real bright light would actually harm him.

Hendery inches closer to the feather, fingers reaching for it. The owner of the feather must have beautiful plume, he thinks. Is there another living creature in here with him?

Hendery has lost count of the days he has been in this basement prison in isolation. If there was another being, Hendery would have heard them. He had spent his first few days in here screaming in anger, voice echoing throughout.

He picks up the feather and inspects it closely. There is tiny dark red spot at the bottom of the feather. Gingerly, Hendery sniffs it.

Blood.

Dried blood that was not his. A shiver runs through his already cold body. Thousands of thoughts run across his mind, but he draws a blank. He knew there were other inhabitants of this prison.

Suddenly, Hendery jolts in surprise, heckles immediately raised. He could sense a presence. A second later, the sound of the chains around the pool rattling anxiously follows, as though a creature was approaching from above.

The worst part is that Hendery has no idea how far up the chains went. Things were usually delivered through a drone flying from above to reach his pool. This was definitely a living creature tugging onto the chains.

He feels power simmering under his skin, face twitching. Hendery closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“Hello, #101100.” A deep voice behind him greets.

Hendery turns his neck sharply, glaring at the intruder behind his pool. The tall, human-like male intruder with white hair smirks, plump lips curled. Large mismatched eyes stare back at Hendery, swirling jade and cerulean.

The intruder was shirtless, abs sculpted on tanned skin with a lion tattoo etched on the side of his abdomen. A hybrid? No, the stranger seemed more than that.

“You’re not afraid.” It seemed more like a statement than a question. Hendery stays silent. How did he know his inmate number?

The man takes a step panther-like towards his pool, confidently assessing him. There was something definitely unhuman about this stranger. Hendery feels conscious of his own appearance, hair clinging onto his head like seaweed and water droplets dripping down his chin.

The man crouches down on his knee, hands on the edge of the pool. He gets to Hendery’s eye level, cocking his head like big dog. Hendery refuses to shrink back.

Maybe it was the loss of human contact getting to him but Hendery drank in the sight of the stranger. His eyes may be deceiving him but there was almost a glow around the stranger, making him even more otherworldly attractive.

He was drawn to him like a mirage in the desert. It felt like it had been months since he had last seen a human being. There was a something magnetic about the person that Hendery could not take his eyes off him in his ethereal presence.

Despite this, Hendery’s lizard brain is on alert. Creatures that are beautiful can also be deadly.

“Are you Jörmungandr?” The man continues. Hendery’s eyes widen and he freezes. So, he knows what Hendery is.

“No, I’m nothing more than a beached whale now.” Hendery scoffs but his senses are on guard. He turns around to face him fully.

“Left to die?”

“More or less. The same way we are all in here.”

Was this man his executioner?

“You know, it’s rude to not introduce yourself.”

“I’m your new neighbour. Inmate #10100. Nice to meet you.”

Initially, he thought they imprisoned him to kill him via isolation. They could not contain his power. However, this was new equation to his situation.

“No, I meant, what are you?”

#10100’s eyes sharpen. His perfect cupid’s bow flattens into self-depreciating smile, “I’m a beast.”

Like me, Hendery thinks. It does not come as a shock to Hendery. After all, they were in Tartarus, a maximum level security prison owned by SM Corp. Located on the barren side of planet, south of Wei City. It is an inhabitable place only accessible by flight.

Separated from civilisation for miles, Tartarus was built on the debris leftover by the war. The same war that kickstarted the evolution of meta humans. Tartarus was bleak and miserable, where dangerous criminals, especially meta humans who were captured resided.

Nobody escapes from Tartarus.

“How did you get in?” Hendery wonders.

#10100 points upwards. “They dumped my body on the beams. I decided to see for myself what was at the bottom of this pit.”

So, there was a way out, at least an exit big enough to fit #10100’s large frame.

“Do you remember….before?” Hendery asks.

Before, when Hendery had first woken up on the floor of his cell, bathed in red light and overcame with the strongest urge to submerge himself in any liquid surface. It took him a while to regain his memories but at least his name was tattooed on the inside of this left arm.

Hendery squints at #10100’s features. His forehead furrows, trying to remember a tall man in the prison line-up with him.

“Before the pills?”

Hendery nods eagerly. The blue and yellow pills forced on him had weakened him so much that he blacked out in the interrogation room.

“Or before the awakening?” #10100 asks, eyes shining white momentarily.

Hendery draws a sharp breath. He hardly remembers his time before stepping foot into Neo City. He woke up on the streets one morning with nothing to his name, the ability to turn into a sea monster and whispers of a dangerous prophecy in his head.

Deep down, he knew Neo City was not his home. Hendery could understand Kanto, a dialect not native to Neo City.

“You’re one of the reborn too.”

It was little wonder that Hendery felt a great affinity with #10100. His cell mate was not just a meta human, they were cut from the same cloth.

#10100 replies, “And you’re the Leviathan.”

Asmodeus, Mammon, Leviathan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Samael and Belphegor. The seven demons of hell promised to bring death and destruction to their world. Hendery knows they exist, the same way a lion in the Nile acknowledges the power of a crocodile. Predator to predator. He just has never made contact with them.

Until now.

“Does that make you Lucifer?”

“Well, I was a winged creature _before_.”

A winged meta human, now that was rare.

“How did you know I was Lucifer?” He arches a brow.

Hendery picks up feather, waving it front of Lucifer. “Also, you’re the most good-looking,” he says unabashedly.

“Thank you.” Lucifer replies in a small voice. “You really think so?” Round, puppy eyes greet Hendery.

Hendery ducks his head down to hide his blush. Amidst the beauty, there was also tinges of forlorn sadness Hendery had picked up on.

Before Tartarus, Hendery knew men, boys like him. Men who were cocky and handsome, men who _knew_ they were dazzling enough for people to worship their feet and get things their way. But Hendery sees a former shell of that from the man in front of him.

They had hurt him as well.

“What are you in here for? They said you were a thief. Some say you were a cannibal.”

“Thief, maybe. Cannibal, no. Can you believe I got plucked out of a gang fight? By a bounty hunter, no less. They were looking for me.” Hendery looks up warily.

“With ash blonde hair and green streaks?”

Hendery hums in agreement. “He got me too.”

Lucifer smiles bitterly, revealing curved incisor fangs. They were both caught for being the Reborn.

“They cursed me to this pool for eternity. I can reach for the fruit hanging from the vines, but I never consume it.”

Just like the Leviathan was described in the book from ages past, rendering him powerless. Envy does fill Hendery when he glances at Lucifer, free to move around compared to him.

Lucifer reaches out for the water.

“Don’t.” Hendery grabs his wrist urgently.

“It’s poisoned, I think.” He nudges his chin towards the vines immersed in the water. “I can’t remove them on my own.”

The warmth of Lucifer’s skin burns under Hendery’s palm.

“I think the red light is too.”

“What?” Hendery’s jaw drops in shock. He lets go of Lucifer’s wrist.

“I felt much weaker once I stepped into this light.”

“I-It’s to keep me in here.”

The pills, the red lighting, poisonous vines.

“Figures.” Hendery spits out, rage unfurling within his shaking body. A pit alone would not have been able to contain his powers.

Lucifer reaches out to pat Hendery’s shoulder sympathetically. “I could knock out the light panel from the top and rip the vines.”

Hendery has long grown cynical of the human nature, kindness did not come easily in his life. “Why are you helping me? Is it with a price?”

“When they first locked me up, I hated that daylight streamed in from the top and all I could do was stare helplessly. I know what it’s like. After all, aren’t we one and the same?” Lucifer chuckles, “My price? Work with me to escape this hell hole.”

Lucifer stretches his hand in the position of a handshake. Hendery stares at his hand. Glancing at Lucifer, his mismatched eyes beckon Hendery with the swirling darkness in his pupils. Hendery feels his soul being tugged towards Lucifer, his heart thunders in his chest.

Is this what temptation is like? Slowly, Hendery reaches out, fingers tightly clasping Lucifer’s much bigger hand. The warmth is back and strangely, a buzzing sensation spreads from Hendery’s palm to the rest of his body.

He feels pure power flow through the handshake, tiny drops gradually intensifying into a steady stream consuming his entire being. He feels drunk off the sudden power influx, head tipping back. Hendery’s eyes glow white like beacons. Somehow, the power was comforting and sense of familiarity that wrapped his mind.

In a haze, Hendery lets go of Lucifer’s hand weakly. The effect short circuits quickly, like a fuse going off. Hendery releases the breath he was holding, panting heavily.

“Is that supposed to happen?” He asks incredulously. Lucifer’s eyes were glowing likewise.

“Wow.” Lucifer says in amazement.

“No, never.” He looks as confused as Hendery.

“ _This_ was supposed to happen.” Hendery registers the light-coloured ‘V’ symbol being carved onto his palm before the pain of it hits him.

“What the fuck.” Hendery gasps in horror and flinches.

Lucifer reveals his own palm with the exact symbol. “It’s a blood pact. It’ll disappear when you fulfil your part of the deal.”

He takes Hendery hand, cupping it gently with his own two hands. Lucifer’s head dips, blowing onto the fresh symbol with unexpected softness and care to alleviate the pain.

“You don’t trust me?”

Lucifer only arches a thick brow in response.

“You’re right. This is Tartarus, after all. What am I saying…” Hendery mumbles.

He made a pact with the devil willingly. “Nobody should be trusted in here.”

Lucifer tuts, seemingly in agreement. Hendery is too preoccupied with the stinging on his palm to notice Lucifer extending his other hand towards Hendery’s neck.

Heated touches flutter along Hendery’s neck abruptly, sending a chill down his spine. Hendery lets out a groan unknowingly. He nearly rolls his eyes, overwhelmed at the sensations. No one has touched him at this distance in a long time, especially his neck.

He has half the mind to move away but the other half of him wants more.

Lucifer grins. Smile blinding, his fingers travel along Hendery’s jaw. Hendery feels his stomach flip. Holding onto Hendery’s chin, he gently pushes Hendery’s head to the right.

Hendery tilts his head in compliance, exposing the purple iridescent dragon scales adorning the sides of his neck like an elaborate choker. Lucifer’s pupils dilate as some of Hendery’s scales catch the light.

“Your scales are really pretty.”

Hendery feels his face grow hot.

“But you’re prettier,” Lucifer whispers.

Hendery shudders, recoiling from Lucifer’s physical contact. He sinks back swiftly into the safety of his pool. The lack of human contact must really be affecting him.

Make no mistake, he willingly let Lucifer touch him. Hendery wonders if he could overpower Lucifer when he transformed into his true monstrous self.

“I never thought of them that way and I doubt it. You’re the one with the power of deception.”

To Hendery, they were a daily reminder of what he had become.

Lucifer makes a small noise of protest.

“I never had them until now. I’m not like you, I wasn’t born with this.” Hendery gestures to his neck.

Lucifer stays silent for a while before saying, “Sometimes, I feel like what we are now is our true form. This is who we are really meant to be.”

“But I’m still human.” Hendery says quietly, voice wavering.

Lucifer shakes his head, sighing. “It doesn’t matter now. Being human won’t get us out of here.” 

Lucifer gets on his feet, raising to his full height. “Cover your eyes.” He says without looking at Hendery.

Without another warning, Lucifer jumps and strikes the red light beam in one shot with his fist. The light beam flies clean off the suspension wires, landing on the ground loudly with the ‘clang’ echoing the pit. This plunges the pit into complete darkness.

“What-“ Hendery is interrupted by the sudden blinding light appearing from nowhere. He winces, eyes squinting at the light source. Hendery is made speechless once again when he realises the light is a sphere of light, glowing in Lucifer’s palm.

The ball of light illuminates Lucifer’s front profile, a powerful figure painted in chiaroscuro like the paintings of old. Lucifer proceeds to volley the sphere up, back to where the red light beam formerly was. Once again, light fills the bottom of pit.

“Lucifer, the bringer of light.” Hendery breathes out.

Just like the prophecy foretold, he had the same powers described.

“So, you know what I can do?” Lucifer grins.

Hendery nods. Hendery immediately thought of the others, the remaining five Reborn.

“When I’m underwater, the voices are there. They whisper to me things and I knew some stuff after I woke up after the Awakening.” Hendery shrugs. “I can hear the rest of them howling and laughing.”

Hendery had heard Lucifer’s voice in the passing amidst the noise, before he could put a face to the voice. Despite this, the state of matters was still an incomplete picture.

“Them?”

“The other ones that got caught, the Reborn, like us.”

Sometimes, their voices kept him up. They were only present in the water but Hendery cannot leave the pool.

“What if I told you, they’re all in here, like us?”

Hendery’s eyes widen. Turns out, it was proximity causing the voices.

“Even the bounty hunter.” Lucifer leans in, whispering conspiratorially.

The gears in Hendery’s head start to turn, this changes things. Even though they were all strangers, Hendery had once taken comfort in knowing there were other creatures like him. The spirit of kinship between monsters, if you will.

Now, there was betrayal from his own kind. It seemed that Lucifer knew more than he let on, at least more than Hendery who was stuck like a frog at the bottom of the well.

“Do you have a plan?”

“On the dawn of when the planet Venus aligns,” Lucifer looks up to the top of the pit, “My full powers will be revealed. My wings will heal, that’s when I need your help to get out.”

“Is that possible?” Hendery glances up at the beyond.

“What is holding you back? Don’t you want to leave this hellhole? What could possibly scare the mighty Leviathan?”

“Heights, that’s why they put me in here when the only way to escape is up.” Hendery says resigned.

“Also, i fucking hate frogs”

Lucifer barks out a laugh. “That’s makes the two of us.”

This time, Hendery is able to return his smile. His days will longer be trapped in a red haze.

-

Some would deem two monsters sharing a cell as strange bedfellows but Hendery got along fine with Lucifer as roommates. In fact, they had more in common than at first glance. They both spoke Kanto, a language dearer to Hendery’s heart than the Universal Basic common to Wei and Neo Cities. 

Lucifer tells Hendery about a greed demon working as a bounty hunter walking freely, a wolf angrily bound in silver chains, a childish psychopath lazily doodling on the walls, a telekinetic warping and destroying his padded cell, as well as a lust demon in the form of miner who had a voice and dreams of a songbird instead. All of them called Tartarus home.

Seven demonic beings awakened would definitely bring about the end of times, or so SM Corp thought. They had actively tried to prevent the apocalypse after the last war, guided by prophecies from the mouths of their oracles and sacred texts.

Undeniably, they were proven true when the Awakening happened and transformed seven unfortunate ordinary humans.

One Reborn was undoubtedly powerful, thus the blood of three Reborn was needed to kill one. It was as foretold in the book. Therefore, there was an attempt to capture of all seven Reborn by employing one Reborn to sniff out the rest since they were all connected. With this, SM Corp succeeded.

Hendery’s nose scrunches in disgust while hearing this. He was labelled a monster and treated as disposable; his death was the only end goal. Hendery still felt very human, in spite of the Awakening. He did not choose this fate, the heavens selected this for him.

He had to get out. It was safer for them to be separated than to be gathered in Tartarus together and experimented on.

Lucifer sits before Hendery’s pool, head resting leisurely on his right elbow that was planted onto the tiles on the edge of the pool. He drags his hand lazily along the water, fingers swirling his reflection on the water surface.

“What do the voices in your head whisper?”

“They want me to rise from depths the hellfire and take reign of the infernal council.” 

“What.”

“Just kidding,” Lucifer smirks.

Hendery gets distracted by the loop-sided smile momentarily. God really has favourites, Hendery thinks.

“They told me to find the serpent.” Lucifer tilts his head towards Hendery. “So, I’m here.” 

“I tempt and influence people.”

Hendery snorts. He definitely was doing his job. “By the way, I’m the one whispering in their minds.”

_Does it mean you can hear my thoughts?_

A resounding ‘yes’ echoes in Hendery’s mind while Lucifer stares at him, lips never moving. In other words, Lucifer knew of the certain type of thoughts Hendery had of him. Hendery sputters in embarrassment as Lucifer chuckles amused.

Hendery wants to burrow deeper when he realises Lucifer must have known how Hendery’s monster whale form looks like, given that image always remained at the back of his head like a constant cloud of doubt.

“Trust me, you don’t want to see my true form either. There’s a lion head, random eyeballs and giant wheels.” Lucifer reassures him.

“The kid with the crazy laugh was drawing the floor plans of Tartarus. His cell is the nicest, I must say.” Lucifer looks around the barren pit.

“Apparently, this is all built on reclaimed land.” He reaches his hand out to absentmindedly pluck leaves from the vines curling into the pool.

“So, it’s all water underneath this?”

“Bingo.”

Hendery could only reach the maximum potential of his powers if he was in water. This was important information to him.

“The wolf was hardest to talk to. He was the quietest. But he has reinforcements waiting for him outside. His pack wants him back. Badly.”

“What type of reinforcements?”  
  


“You know the 127 gang from Neo City? The ones that run the fighting ring? The kind of reinforcements that bring their own fire power.”

Hendery whistles in admiration, everybody in Neo City knew of the fearsome 127 gang. A Reborn, on top of being a 127 gang member, was a deadly combination. SM Corp must have been desperate enough to capture him, or maybe just scared.

Lucifer crumples the leaves into seven balls with the single palm of his big hand. “The bounty hunter will contact his pack since he’s the only one who can leave this wretched place.”

He casually places the seven balls in the formation of a ‘V’. “Anyway, a little birdy in the pipes told me that the bounty hunter has the access card for entire cell block also. Lucky for us, they are all itching to get out.”

“First, the bounty hunter will set the telekinetic and the crazy kid free, then guide them to the pipes.” Lucifer points to the makeshift ball at the top of the ‘V’, signalling their locations.

“A telekinetic and a pyromaniac. It’s going to be blast.” He grins.

Lucifer points to another ball like a chess piece and says, “The songbird will go to the wolf and freeze off his chains. The wolf will be a beacon signal for his mate. The pack will attack from outside and rig the ground with explosives.” 

“And I’ll transform, using the water from below to dismantle the foundations of Tartarus.” Hendery adds on.

His monster form was too large for a sneak attack and not suitable for hand to hand combat. Occasionally, he wished he did not have to completely change his form to activate his powers like the others. This was one of the times. He felt like he was not of much help.

The seas will boil as the serpent prepares to devour the world hungry. The seven of them would rain destruction as the antichrist rode on Leviathan leading into cosmic battle. Hendery knew this, trusting Lucifer became instinct. Leviathan is his monster, after all. He would follow Lucifer on this crusade wholeheartedly.

“Can this bounty hunter be trusted?” Hendery sniffs.

“It’s not a matter of trust, it’s a matter of will. Even an information broker has things he doesn’t know.” Lucifer gives another one of his mysterious smiles.

“We spoke during the interrogation, he’s malleable.”

-

He once ascended to the heavens, sat on a golden throne looking over the gods. Only to be cast forcefully into this pit, haunted by voice booming in his head of unfamiliar memories dating to the days of Babylon. Memories that did not belong to him.

On the other hand, he struggled to remember his current life. His head hurt, conflicting voices and thoughts pounding his brain. To worsen matters, he could hear the beat of wings in the distance. His shoulder twitched at the sensation of a phantom limb. This is what it meant to be a Reborn.

“No..” Lucas murmurs, body twitching on the wooden beam he called his bed.

He remembers the pain of his wings getting ripped one by one, severed nerves sending him into shock. They had thrown his body straight into the pit while he was conscious but unable to move. The fall was more harrowing than the discomfort of the landing. As he struggled to get up, the light at the top was jarring and mocking.

A slimy and cool sensation on his ankle jerked him back to reality. His eyes fly open and he glanced down. A single purple tentacle wrapped gently around his ankle. Lucas blinks groggily, still disoriented. Consequently, the tentacle senses that he was awake now. It unfurls slowly and pats his calf in a comforting manner.

“I’m fine,” Lucas says to it, or rather its owner.

“You were mumbling in your sleep.” A voice filters from below, slightly echoing around the walls of the pit. The tentacle points at Lucas.

“I slept on my back again. It’s nothing.” He pets the head of tentacle.

“I can help you with your…back.”

Lucas hums his acknowledgement. The tentacle curls around his wrist, leading him towards the chains that travel down to its owner. He had removed the offending vines poisoning the quiet and thin man in the pool. As a result, parts of his monster form creeped out easily like this tentacle, among other appendices.

Once Lucas reached the bottom of the pit, he watches the bright eyes shine behind the long fringe as he approaches. The tentacle retracts back into the pool.

“Come here,” whispers the man in the pool like a siren call.

Lucas leans in, staring at the wet dark blue shirt sticking like second skin. Cool hands envelope his cheeks and he glances up to dark eyes he could drown in. Fingers brush away the cold sweat on his forehead and Lucas takes a deep breath, closing his eyes.

Sometimes, he was not sure if the Leviathan was like what they said, a sea monster. This Leviathan resembled more closely to a sea siren; a pretty boy trapped in the bottom of a pit.

The hands migrate to his shoulders, kneading the knots of muscle. Lucas sighs wistfully, turning around to lie on the marble tiles that made up the pool edge. After filing through the other’s mind, he trusted him enough to show his mutilated back.

A long time ago, his wings were his shining glory as a meta human. He was worshipped by many then, but he sees the same in the big eyes of the Leviathan now.

Shame rises in Lucas when he could not reach his wounds without the Leviathan’s help. A powerful archangel bested. the However, he would not have known his injuries had healed wrongly, resulting in open wounds.

The Leviathan dabs ointment tenderly on the lacerations. Lucas cannot help but wince in pain. Following this, the Leviathan presses a palm on the base of the back of Lucas’ neck. He feels the clear stream of power travel from Leviathan’s palm to his neck to his wounds.

For a second, the pain is instantly alleviated. Perhaps, it was part of Leviathan’s power where touch would magnify and transfer power. From his caring manner, one would not think the unassuming man would be the imposing Leviathan.

“What were you dreaming of?”

“The Awakening, my fall.”

Lucas felt a level of connection with the Leviathan, another being who shared his experiences. Maybe this was why he was so willing to open up to him, “The usual.”

Daft fingers trail his bare back, before knuckles press in and continue the massage from his neck.

“I dream of the ocean, sometimes. Might be where I’m really from or it could because of my affliction.”

“Do you remember your life pre-Awakening?” The Leviathan continues.

“A little. The planet I’m from had the most vivid purple skies.”

In contrast, Tartarus was shades of grey and greyer, even the skies were clouded in ash. The only vibrant feature in Tartarus he has seen so far were the Leviathan’s shimmering neck scales.

“That sounds beautiful.”

Lucas feels a tentacle stroke the back of his head slowly.

“It should be near yours, in the Kanto Region.”

“I don’t know, I don’t remember much.”

Lucas hears frustration and sadness colour the Leviathan’s low voice. He hated it when that happened.

“I want to go home, where-ever that may be. Just let me leave this place.”

“I promise.” Lucas whispers back.

If Lucas falls back asleep by the Leviathan’s pool to the trill of his whale song, no one has to know.

-

There was one thing clinging onto Hendery’s mind since Lucifer mentioned the ‘mate’ of Samael, the wolf hybrid. What was it like knowing there was a person waiting for you outside? How was it like for your body to recognise another person was the right person to be with?

He had become too accustomed to loneliness; the way Tartarus messes with your mind. Nothing but the emptiness in the pit responding to his question, mind automatically overthinking.

_Mate._

Legend has it the Leviathan had a mate, two monsters that made a pair. On the other hand, ancient knowledge bestowed to him also said that God had skinned the meat of the Leviathan for the banquet of the righteous.

Hendery mainly ignored the other part. The word ‘mate’ felt primal to Hendery, he felt that it was meant to elicit a biological reaction out of him. Did it make him less of a human to have a mate?

Why did his brain naturally supply the image of Lucifer? Was it his powers of seduction? Hendery wonders if he had fallen for that, despite gradually regaining his own powers. But attraction cannot be denied, as well as the semi co-dependency they built over time together.

The chains above rattle, disrupting the rest of his thoughts. The man of the hour had arrived. Hendery takes a deep breath, steadying his feet. Slowly, he rises with hands on his knees. He was no longer trapped by the pool.

Hendery shifts his weight between his feet, testing his center of balance. He takes a step out of it, inch by inch. The ball of his feet meets the ground first, water dripping off his calves. He walks unsteadily to the waiting figure, his soles making full contact with the ground. 

“So, you do have legs.” Lucifer gives him a once-over head to toe with appreciative eyes. Hendery cheekily does a small twirl and shrugs.

“Just in time for tomorrow.”

Lucifer reaches for him first, muscular arms wrapping Hendery in a bear hug. Hendery freezes. He suddenly felt acutely aware of Lucifer’s bare chest touching him, his wet clothes were the only barrier between their chests. A very thin layer. Hendery feels his face heat up instantly, not just from Lucifer’s body warmth.

“I never expected this,” Lucifer says surprised. 

Lucifer squeezes him tighter, almost burying his face in Hendery’s neck. At close distance, Lucifer felt like a furnace to Hendery. He feels Lucifer’s breath on his sensitive dragon scales.

Hendery chokes but it comes out as a whine instead. He could feel Lucifer breaking into one of his mega watt smiles. Gratitude mixed with happiness, Hendery wants to melt in his arms.

“You helped me first.”

“You never feared me.” Lucifer states.

Hendery manages to wrap his arms around Lucifer’s neck, warily avoiding his back.

“No, never.”

He looks up at Lucifer, right into the turbulent seas that were his eyes. There was so much darkness he could drown in them. The Leviathan inside him was roaring.

Hendery’s eyes drop to Lucifer’s heart-shaped lips, forgetting their physical closeness for a second. Glancing back at Lucifer, he realises how near their faces were.

Lucifer leans in, eyelashes lowered with his gaze on Hendery’s parted lips. Hendery surges forward and closes the gap between them, meeting Lucifer’s plush lips. Teeth clashed as they kissed roughly with hands roaming over each other. Hendery tastes Lucifer’s mouth and it felt like everything had just clicked.

In the heat of the moment, Hendery bites on Lucifer’s bottom lip. Blood springs immediately, a single stream of blood flows neatly down to Lucifer’s chin. Hendery watches as Lucifer licks his own lips of the blood.

Hendery angles his head, lapping up the blood left on Lucifer’s chin. Lucifer growls, hand grabbing the back of Hendery’s head so he can have access Hendery’s lips again. 

“Your teeth are so sharp,” Lucifer purrs.

His tongue dances on the surface of Hendery’s teeth, flitting across the sharp edges on purpose. This time, Lucifer returns the favour by taking a bite out of Hendery’s kiss-bruised lips with his own fangs. Lucifer laps his blood like ambrosia before meeting Hendery’s mouth. Hendery feels dizzy tasting the metallic tang of the mix of their blood.

He expects the familiar surge of power between them this time, his body was prepared. Sure enough, he feels it most strongly at the center, where their chests were touching. Power cascades in waves around them like the ocean. Lucifer’s deep-set eyes glowed from within and his skin twinkling like diamond dust. A marble statue carved by Michelangelo, to be admired by many.

He was the most beautiful sight Hendery had ever seen in his entire life.

Hendery raises his own gleaming hand to cup Lucifer’s cheek. Lucifer leans into his touch with his lashes fluttering shut.

“My morning star,” Hendery coos, breaking into a smile.

The stronger Hendery had gotten, the less human he felt. His monster side always took over. He felt terribly human now, as though they were just ordinary beings. His heart was laid bare. Hendery certainly wished they were two normal people who met under different circumstances.

But one thing was clear, Hendery will always feel fortunate to meet Lucifer in whichever life.

Lucifer trails kisses down Hendery’s neck, nipping his scales on purpose. Hendery moans, grinding their crotches together. Lucifer’s fingers clasp the buttons urgently on Hendery’s shirt, almost ripping them off.

With Hendery’s shirt off, Lucifer bends down to press a gentle kiss on the mole between his collar bones first, before mouthing his collar bones. Lucifer’s touch felt like fire on his bare skin. Hendery backs into the side of the pool, knees sliding down until his body hit the floor.

Lucifer goes down with him, crouching on the back of his heels. Hendery looks up at Lucifer caging his body, Lucifer’s round eyes were full of hunger. Hendery gulps as Lucifer works his pants off.

“I’m going to go down on you,” Lucifer announces as he makes himself home between Hendery’s thighs.

Hendery keens as Lucifer nips and licks his inner thighs. He was already so hard. “P-please.” Hendery stutters out.

Before Hendery can get out another word, Lucifer’s mouth was on him, swallowing him whole. Heat arises from his groin and Hendery’s face is set aflame. Hendery pants heavily, chest heaving. Sweating forms on Hendery’s forehead as he feels his cock hit the back of Lucifer’s throat. He looks down at Lucifer nosing at his groin, making eye contact with Lucifer’s piercing gaze. Lucifer’s tongue swirls dangerously around the head of his cock.

Hendery grabs Lucifer’s white locks tightly, his hips jerking upwards on their own. A finger trails down and circles around his wet rim. Hendery lets out a strangled cry as a thick finger enters him. His back arches off the floor when more fingers join in stretching up.

Hendery’s vision goes white and mind blanks out when he cums without warning. His body goes limp, completely melting in Lucifer’s hands. Hendery shuts his eyes, gasping to breathe while white mess spurts on his stomach. Lucifer grabs his hips hard enough to bruise, continuing fucking his fingers into his hole relentlessly.

Hendery whimpers, arms crossing over his face to hide his sob.

“What am I going to do with you,” Lucifer growls.

If it was a sin to give in to temptation, Hendery has already lost. He would be a sinner forever. 

He peeks through his arms at the sound of pants unzipping. Lucifer’s cock was heavy and veiny, precum dripping at the tip. Hendery swallows his saliva and spreads his thighs wider in anticipation. Lucifer presses their lips together and pushes in one stroke.

Hendery falls apart again, eyes rolling back. He was not ready to come another time. Hendery hooks both his legs around Lucifer’s waist while Lucifer bottoms out. Hendery scrambles to cling onto Lucifer’s neck. He felt so big inside of him. His breath hitches, mewling loudly without inhibition with each thrust inside him. Lucifer swallows his moans as he sucks on Hendery’s tongue languidly.

On a physical level, Hendery was experiencing waves of pleasure. Every touch was magic itself. On the spiritual level, the intimate contact between the two beings like them and their powers resulted in a collision of forces that Hendery was not prepared for.

It was the same reason why SM Corp needed to harvest their powers and yet, keep them separated. This was the impact from an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object. The intensity was so strong, he felt that he was on the verge of transcending. Hendery was so drunk on power.

The Leviathan in him felt invincible and connected in all ways with Lucifer. The beast had clamoured in Hendery’s chest, reaching out and finding another monster.

Lucifer grabs one of Hendery’s legs and props it on his shoulder, almost folding Hendery in half. Hendery sucks in a breath. He could tell Lucifer sensed the influx in energies, eyes turning almost blood red this time. Lucifer’s fangs seemed to have grown longer, gleaming in the poor light. Hendery should be fearful but he was more turned on instead.

The combination of their powers gives Lucifer a boost in strength and he increases his pace of powerful thrusts. He quickly finds Hendery’s prostate with this new angle.

Hendery wails, the walls of the pit amplifying the sounds of them making the beast with two backs. He could feel Lucifer all the way to his guts. The lurid symphony of skin against skin, crotch slapping against ass, the squelching sound of cock penetrating his wet hole.

“I c-can’t, I’m not going to last,” Hendery hiccups.

There were tears forming in his eyes and his whole body was on fire. This was the most warmth he felt since he stepped into Tartarus. He was fucked wide open and vulnerable, bathing with his knees at his chest in the flames of the prince of Hell.

Lucifer does not stop his hips, smirking with his fangs out. All this while maintaining eye contact with Hendery. His cock was pistoning in Hendery’s red, abused hole. Grinning, he licks a stray tear from Hendery’s cheek before diving down to bite his shoulder. Hendery’s abdomen tightens and his toes curl. Lucifer’s fangs pierce fair skin while he was driving into Hendery below. Pain and pleasure mixing indefinitely, he did not know where the pain begin, and pleasure ended.

Hendery’s mind was in overdrive, the wild currents of power became uncontrollable. He comes with a shout, shortly after. His insides tighten and Lucifer grunts.

Hendery goes limp, akin to a circuit trip. Droplets of perspiration dot Lucifer’s forehead as he persists with his thrusts, fucking Hendery through his orgasm. Hendery sobs as he was being used, riding the high from being wrecked by another demonic being.

A submission not based on power.

His trembling thighs were held up by Lucifer’s strong grip. It seems like forever before Lucifer groans, low and sweet, beside the shell of Hendery’s ear. He empties himself into Hendery’s hole, body shuddering.

Lucifer collapses on Hendery, favouring the side where he marked Hendery’s shoulder. He catches his breath. Lucifer proceeds to lick clean the small trickle of blood. Hendery shivers.

Lucifer shifts Hendery, pillowing Hendery’s neck on his arm. He covers their bodies with a plain silk sheet. They lie on the hard concrete, catching their breaths. The power within them subside, rocking back to a stable normal state.

Regaining himself, Hendery turns to Lucifer and burrows in his bare, tanned muscled chest. His arm comes around Lucifer’s waist while he seeks out the slow rhythm of Lucifer’s heartbeat to ground himself. The power becomes a low, buzzing sound at the back of his brain. They lapse into silence, listening to the echoes around the pit.

Lucifer breaks the lull first. “It’s Lucas.”

Lucas, Lucas. Hendery mentally repeats, tongue twisting over each letter as they etched themselves on his heart.

“Ah,” Hendery scrunches his nose, “The luminous one, indeed,” he giggles.

He brushes aside a long curl that had fallen over Lucas’ eyes tenderly. He finally had a proper name to this breath-taking face. Lucas looked terribly human now in Hendery’s eyes.

“You have such a squeaky laugh.” Lucas observes, punctuating his statement with a wild, guttural laughter of his own.

“It’s cute.”

For the first time in a long time, Hendery felt so light-hearted. His spirit was at ease.

“Nice to meet you.” He presses a small kiss on Lucas’ nose.

“I’m Hendery, just Hendery,” he whispers each syllable only for Lucas’ ears despite they were the only two living creatures in this pit.

Hendery was nose to nose, forehead to forehead with Lucas. Staring in his jewelled eyes, Hendery wants to drown in Lucas and consume his soul.

Hendery would willingly allow Lucas to do the same to him. Hendery would go to the ends of the world for him, to kill even. He realises the noise and voices in his head had long stopped when it is only Lucas on his mind. In this moment, they were like the only two people left in this world.

With this, everything felt right in the world. His monster was sated. _Mate_ , Hendery thinks as he traces the word on Lucas chest, right over his beating heart. A demon with a heart, who would have thought.

The word ‘mate’ seemed apt, Hendery’s previous doubts were chased away. A mate is to be cherished and protected. Somehow, the low notes of the whale song come naturally to Hendery. Maybe, it was too engrained in his nature. He starts crooning softly, curious fingers wander downwards to the lion tattoo.

Hendery watches Lucas recline sideways in his naked glory while the sheet was draped across his body. He looked like he belonged in the exquisite oil paintings of old, from a time long gone centuries ago. Artists would have fought to paint him.

Sweaty caramel skin that looked oiled instead, were littered with bruises and bites. Hendery wondered how his own body fared after their coupling, especially with Lucas’ fangs. With his hooded gaze focused on Hendery, Lucas was pure sin personified. Hendery thinks they should test out the theory of demon stamina later. 

“Are you ready?” Lucas asks.

They were both on the cusp of the full potential of their powers. Venus was calling to the thrum of his heartbeat. The night before their big plan, all the players and pieces were in place.

Hendery nods, round eyes curving into semi circles. Lucas links their hands together. Grabbing the hand entwined with Hendery’s fingers, he places a soft kiss to the back of Hendery’s hand.

“To the new world.”

The tendrils of Lucas’ power reach out for him once again, intertwining and dancing. He realises their powers were complementary, not contrasting. Hendery no longer feels cold. He had a reason to live.

“Tomorrow will be ours.” 

-

Alarms blare obnoxiously, flashing red lights followed by large search lights completed the current shit show happening in throughout Tartarus. The sounds of explosions, space freighter engines, alarms, shouts, gun fire, footsteps running, blasts threw the prison into disorienting chaos in all directions and levels.

Lucas was sure that even in the pit, Hendery was able to hear everything at the bottom of Tartarus.

Earlier when dawn had arrived, Lucas had jolted awake in his lover’s arms. Lips purple and face pale, he felt the stirrings of his back muscles forming and generating. It was a grotesque sight, his muscles contorting unnaturally, and face clenched in pain. His fangs hurt terribly, and his head pounded.

The sudden increase in his powers meant he could not control this. His fingers grew into actual claws, leaving deep scratch marks on the ground. His beast had come into itself and he saw red.

The little remaining of his human self was coloured with shame for Hendery to see him like this and worry for his safety. Lucas is proven wrong when multiple large tentacles wrap around him tightly, lifting him off the ground. His first instinct was to snarl and fight back, common sense and logic thrown out of the window. The tentacles shake him violently until he calms down, vision becoming normal again.

“Breathe,” a voice commands.

Lucas blinks. He had control of himself and his footing again. He looks up and the tears in Hendery’s eyes reflect back at him. The tentacles loosen and Lucas was let gently back on the ground. He realises the damage he had caused around them. If Hendery was not here, he would have destroyed everything and let his demon self take over.

Hendery rushes over, gathering Lucas in a deep kiss. He wraps Lucas with his thin human arms this time.

“I believe you. You got this,” Hendery reassures.

He picks up Lucas’ hand, interlacing their fingers and joining their palms. Lucas feels the power transfer happen, a large amount flowing into him from Hendery. For a split second, Lucas does not want to leave.

“Go.” Hendery whispers.

But Lucas hear the reluctance in his voice. Hendery lets go of Lucas and steps back. Lucas has to carry out the plan they strategized over for weeks. He will not fail, and he will come back for Hendery. Their plan had involved freeing everyone except Hendery last. Hendery struggles to lift the corners of his lips into a weak smile.

Lucas’ wings flap as he attempts to regain control of these extra limbs. After a few attempts, he picks himself up off the ground. It was like riding a bicycle, his body already knew what to do. He looks down at Hendery’s decreasing small figure.

“Wait for me.”

Hendery waves him off and Lucas takes off to the opening of the pit.

He breathes in the exhilarating air of freedom, swopping to the control tower to kickstart the anarchy. Lucas rips the metal door off, taking out the guards inside and draining their life essence. He jams the controls on all the entryways of the prison. He hears the first blast from coming from outside and he smirks. The cavalry had come just in time as he opened the doors of the hangar. 

Lucas lands on the corridor between the various cells like an avenging angel. He expands his wings in the narrow corridor, taking out three guards in the process. Using his telepathy, he focuses and susses out the locations of all the Reborn.

They were all powerful on their own right, making them harder to influence and control compared to normal humans. Dodging bullets, Lucas reaches the main fuse box and smashes the circuit breaker. This releases the other meta and normal human inmates from their cells.

Lucas takes a deep breath, unleashing his sphere of influence over the rest of the non-Reborn prisoners. He reaches out to their souls, to connect to their feelings and fan the flames the anger and hatred. This spills over into aggression and agitation.

Shouts and screams rattle the bars, kickstarting this orchestra of destruction. Lucas spreads out his arms and wings in a mock prayer, basking in the negative energy fuming from the prisoners. Anarchy descends all levels of Tartarus.

Lucas picks up the nervous-looking Reborn with ease, whose grey hair matched his ice powers. They head to the iron and silver chamber containing the wolf hybrid.

The wolf was restless when he was freed, clad only in a studded denim jacket and pants.

“Where’s your mate?” Lucas asks.

The gang was supposed to break in and leave with all of them, those were the terms he spelled out in his message to them. A fast extraction before prison paramilitary reinforcements were sent in. Disgruntled, the wolf howls upwards at the direction of the sky. Soon, an answering howl lingered from the depths of the prison.

“They’re in the lab.”

Lucas’ eyes bulge, that was not part of his plan.

“Yuta says they found files on all of us and bodies with our powers. Johnny said they were doing experiments with the rest of the prison population when he was in here.”

The other Reborn in the room has his jaw hanging on the floor, Lucas was equally flabbergasted. SM Corp was harvesting their cells, making duplicates with man-made powers.

“The gang is going to destroy the lab.”

“No, they can’t. We don’t have time.” Lucas argues.

The bombs were rigged to go, Hendery was waiting. His heart was beating as fast as he could hear them ticking away. The delay would cost them time to escape.

“Do you want to be hunted for the rest of your life? Putting everyone and your mate, no, your loved ones in danger and constant worry?” The wolf spits out, indignation in his voice.

“Because I am so sick of it. People look at me and they only see me as a Reborn, a demon. I don’t care about the end of the world. I have my mates, my pack. I had a life before this!” 

Lucas closes his eyes. Images of Hendery’s smile, his peaceful sleeping form in the pool flash in his mind. _Please wait for me, Hendery._

Sighing, he opens his eyes and says, “Let’s get to the lab.”

Afterwards, they left the lab in smithereens, reuniting with the rest of the Reborn. But Lucas turns and detours to the direction of the pit. He knew what was coming. There was no time left.

The dreaded explosives by the 127 gang buried deep in the sand and attached to the walls of the other side of Tartarus go off. Lucas covers his sensitive ears, temporarily stunned by the deafening blasts. His wings cover him, shielding his body from the flying debris. The walls collapse, tearing Tartarus down. Spying the cracks on the ground below his feet, Lucas gathers his wings and flies upwards swiftly.

The underground bombs were activated, the ground was giving in and creating a sinkhole. After the timed blasts, there was a different type of noise. The roaring engines of fighter fleets breaking the planet atmosphere above and the recognisable insignia of the vast SM Corp logo has the gang and Reborn running back within the inch of their lives to the various gunships parked on the perimeter.

Lucas’ stomach dropped. He was too late. Even if he teamed up with the rest of the Reborn, they still could not confront thousands of ammunitions aimed at them.

Almost on cue, Lucas hears a weak but determined, “Leave” in his mind. Lucas flies higher over the prison, eyes wild searching among the debris. He was putting himself at risk at getting shot but he didn’t care.

_I can swim. G-go first._

Then, Lucas hears him before he sees him. A ferocious roar breaks through the smoke and fire. The serpent has risen, uncoiling its body from the ashes. He watches in awe at the size of the Leviathan, easily as big as a war fighter fleet that carried thousands of men.

At this point, the ground had disappeared into craters soon filling with seawater. He could not believe his eyes that this giant scary creature was Hendery. Hendery, who had a slow heartbeat and kept to himself. Hendery, whose normal speaking tone was whispers. The same man Lucas thought he could overpower and dominate when he first saw him.

Gunfire start to rain from above, the Leviathan roars again in defiance. Eye glow white out of its large head. Lucas could not see a semblance of human consciousness in the eyes of the Leviathan. Neither could he access Hendery’s mind, it was plain red.

As it slithers, the navy, armour thick scales on its body shift and twist. The blasts bounce off, having no effort. Purple scales on its neck stand out as the Leviathan inclines its head towards the incoming fighter fleet. Lucas gets a better look at the rows of razor sharp teeth.

“Lucifer!”

He was too entranced by the majestic sight of the Leviathan to notice a telepathic shield in the shape of a dome had been put up to protect him. Lucas turns to see the telekinetic with blue hair was standing at the ramp of the nearest floating gun ship, frowning with his arms outstretched and palms open.

The pyromaniac with blonde highlights yells from behind the telekinetic, “Get in! Kun can’t put up the shield for long!”

Lucas shakes his head. However, his attempt to fly closer is blocked by a gust of fireballs erupting from the jaws of the Leviathan, aimed at the SM fighter fleet. He nearly got his feathers burned off. The ensuing smoke from the fight was blocking his vision and his lungs. Not just physically, his chest hurt.

Lucas took one long last look at what Hendery had become. For the second time in his life, Lucas felt fear. He could not do anything. For an inexplicable reason, his chest ached terribly. 

-

“I don’t know.”

The bounty hunter chokes out every word, fingers painted black desperately try to shake off Lucas’ strong grip on his throat.

The worst part was, he was telling the truth when Lucas had plunged into his mind immediately and ripped apart mental drawers of information jarringly.

He had caught up with the bounty hunter in the back alleys of Neo City, of all places. Lucas had questioned the rest of the Reborn, and they had all given him the same answer: the bounty hunter was the only other person before him to have seen the Leviathan before Tartarus came down.

Hendery’s surviving documents were redacted, black bars blocking out more information than the remaining readable text. Any evidence of the insidious Reborn project was destroyed in the ruins of the prison. It was as though he had disappeared off the face of the earth.

If the land Tartarus was built on was inhabitable before, it was now beyond salvage. The south of Wei City no longer existed, erased from the map and swallowed by the vast sea. The remains of Tartarus had sunk to the bottom of the black waters like a gloomy Atlantis. Truly, the Leviathan was the eater of worlds. Lucas should have been more afraid of him in hindsight.

The sudden mental intrusion causes the bounty hunter’s ash blonde head to hurt and blood dripped out of his nostril.

He glares back defiant, sniping, “You never mentioned another person. You never said he was important.”

Lucas curses and slams the head of hunter’s head against the wall in anger. His mistake or not, Lucas was paying dearly for it.

Said hunter’s mate, a big cat hybrid, who so happened to be in the 127 gang, comes up to punch him in retaliation. It evolves into a full-on fist fight where Lucas threw his blows sloppily.

Whatever, he was not known to be cool and collected. What was with that pack and their mates? Lucas always thought the concept of mates was a hybrid species thing, meta humans or Reborn were not affected. It was not fucking fair they could reunite with their mates, their lovers.

The first few days after the end of Tartarus, Lucas was still shell shocked and in a daze. He could not comprehend Hendery was really gone.

Occasionally, Lucas would catch a glint of purple in his peripherals when he roamed the streets. His mind was always calling out to the man with long hair and deep-set eyes. Yet, he never got a reply. His so-called fearsome powers that would make a normal human shake, failed him entirely.

The carving on the heart of his palm was gone. Their blood pact vanished, Hendery fulfilled his part of the promise, Lucas had not. In a deal with the devil, Lucas felt he was the one who had lost instead.

On some nights, Lucas still dreamed of being thrown down the pit with his wings harshly sawed off. He would wake up covered in cold sweat, checking if his wings were still there and his surroundings.

Sure, the pit was horrible, but it had a saving grace. That being, his other cellmate who was the subject of his dreams these days. Lucas went into Tartarus with a purpose of escaping, a skeleton plan already forming in the works the moment bounty hunter sauntered into his interrogation room.

Nevertheless, he never expected to fall for another prisoner, let alone another Reborn. Or for things to come out like this.

He should be elated, free from the clutches of SM Corp. But he was not because Hendery was not here to celebrate this with him. After all, they were strangers. Lucas did not know much about Hendery, where he had come from and what he had done.

A fact he did know was that Hendery was the only good thing in his life for first time, in a long time. Weeks of searching yielded no results. There was still no trace of Hendery, as though he was just the figment of Lucas’ imagination, manifested in the madness afflicted by the pit. They always said prison changes you. Inside Lucifer’s ice cold heart, it bled through the fissures.

From the pit till present, Lucas had wondered about the power transfer deal between them. Initially, he assumed it was purely one of Hendery’s many powers. He did not know Hendery could breathe fire till the fight.

But it had not worked on other Reborn. The only other theory of his was this power only worked between mates. Alas, Lucas could not test this out, Hendery is gone. Their bond was torn.

Lucas had tried to go back to where Tartarus once stood to find clues, but the turbulent black waters were too choppy for a human. However, it was fitting for a sea monster.

The night before he leaves for the Kanto Region, he receives a package from Neo City. The remaining Reborn all agreed to go their separate ways after they recuperated from the escape. They were better apart than together, making it harder for any SM Corp remnants to hunt them down.

In the package, lays a container with a preserved aging, torn page from a book and a letter. Opening the black nail polish smudged letter, Lucas reads of a monster sighting in the seas of Ao Men. He also notes the letter signing off with the recognisable 127 logo.

A debt paid.

On the yellowed parchment in handwritten text of an old language:

_‘The great fish in the sea, and in the words of God, created a pair. And on that day were two monsters parted, a monster named Leviathan, to dwell in the abysses of the ocean over the fountains of the waters…He slew one for the righteous in the future, for if they would propagate, the world could not exist…’_

The Reborn were named that because everyone woke up with memories of their current life gone and knowledge of a religion of old instilled in them. The knowledge of their demon selves and how the prophecy they were instrumental to was carried out individually. Did Hendery already understand how the fight would play out?

Fate was calling to him again. Lucas hopes he is right this time. 

-

Lucas cuts through the violet skies framing the sunset, landing his ship, Bella, on the onyx sandy beach of Ao Men. Stepping off the ramp of the ship, he breathes in the smell of the sea. Orange light tinted the amethyst water, he gazes at the empty bridge in the distance and lone lighthouse further ahead. The seas were calm, waves crashing gently with not a single soul in sight. Lucas focuses his mind on finding another heartbeat. 

In the quiet of the sundown, Lucas does the one thing he knows. He closes his hips and hums the first few notes of the whale song. He is met with the answering shrill of just the breeze. Not giving up, Lucas completes the rest of the vocalisations. Just as he was about to repeat the song, he was interrupted by the leisurely kicking of pebbles.

“Not bad for your first time.”

Lucas’ eyes widen. He had gone so long without hearing Hendery’s voice, he could not believe his ears. He rushes over to the slight figure illuminated by the golden hour. Hendery seemed to have not changed. He appeared almost angelic, especially when he beamed at Lucas.

He picks Hendery up in a hug, spinning him around. Lucas buries his face in Hendery’s nape, forehead meeting the cool skin of his shoulder. He cannot believe Hendery is physically here. Lucas wants to memorise every part of Hendery, he refuses to let him go from his sight. 

Hendery pats his head comfortingly. He opens his lips, slipping into the high notes and continuing the whale song. Droplets of moisture wet Hendery’s shoulders. Hendery faces Lucas, palms cupping Lucas’ chiselled cheekbones. His thumb brushes across the reddish bruise. Lucas winces.

“What happened here?”

“And this is new.” He gestures to Lucas’ lip ring. Lucas grimaces, acutely aware of his bruised cheek and small gashes on his nose and eyebrow.

“Nothing, just got scratched up by some cats.”

Hendery tsks, hitting him with a look in his eyes that knew better.

“They say a siren lives here. Others warn of a monster under the bridge, lurking in the waves ready to snatch any ship.”

“I’ve heard stories about the Devil of Tartarus.”

“Is that so?”

“I’ve heard people say he was evil incarnate, powerful enough to mastermind the destruction of a prison that no one has ever escaped from, cruel enough to bring down the entirety of the prison, even the other prisoners.”

Lucas’ posture stiffens. The seas in front of them were deceptively calm.

The annihilation of Tartarus marked a turning point in history. The whole planet was buzzing with the news for weeks end, even spreading to other planets. The stories spun from the incident ranged from truthful to exaggeration.

Unfortunately, no one bothered to verify the truth because of the little number of survivors left. The Reborn became stories to tell misbehaving children at night as a cautionary tale, whispers in the streets from eyewitnesses about demonic beings that walked amongst them. Anecdotes mixed with rumours brought absurd narratives and gossip.

Right now, only the two of them here knew the truth.

“I’ve also heard he was devilishly handsome, as beautiful as a fallen angel from tales of the book. You wouldn’t be able to resist him.”

“And what did you say?”

Lucas manages to take a better look at Hendery this time, his long fringe flopping over his face as usual. Furrowing his brow, Lucas goes closer. With shaking fingers, he pushes away Hendery’s fringe to behind his ear. A pinkish scar started from the top of Hendery’s right temple, bisecting his eye directly below.

Hendery’s eyelashes flutter shut at Lucas’ touch. When his eyes lift to meet Lucas, Lucas is hit by sudden coldness in his core. A milky white eyeball stares back. Hendery was still the most beautiful being he has seen.

“I would say that he’s my mate.”

Lucas’ knees buckles. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. I was supposed to protect you, I couldn’t-” He blubbers.

“No, it was my job to protect you,” Hendery insists.

“I don’t deserve you.”

Lucas was so agitated that his wings popped out, encircling the both of them.

“Being off the pills and not having my power constrained like usual made me go lose control and go berserk. It’s not your fault,” Hendery explains.

“It was meant to happen, just like the book said.” Hendery tips on his toes, delicately pressing his lips on the tear marks on Lucas’ face like a band-aid.

Hendery strokes his wings, half in admiration and half in a calming manner. The serenity in Hendery’s working eye unnerves him. The pressure on his chest feels overflowing, a mixture of regret, sadness, shame and anger threatens to spill over.

“I’m here, aren’t I? That’s what matters.” Hendery brings a white stained feather attached to a chain out from his shirt collar.

“Besides, I have this. I always know where to find you.”

Lucas snatches Hendery’s mouth, kissing him deeply. The word ‘mate’ rang repetitively in his mind. He eagerly swallows Hendery’s sweet moans, a lullaby to his ears. Lucas makes sure Hendery hears him loud and clear in his mind this time.

Familiar trails of their power interface and link, forging a transfer to each other. Thus, creating an equilibrium. In the demonic food chain, Lucas was currently the leader, the top dog of the Reborn. Despite this, he still fell to the charms of the Leviathan like a siren call he could never resist. The Tempter was one being led and persuaded.

The rays of dusk shone warmth on his feathers while Hendery exuded coolness in his arms. In the cocoon, their shared power glowed like fireflies between them. This belonged to Hendery and him, a bond inexplicable. Finally, Lucas felt like he was at the right place.

Home.

His restless heart is completely at peace.

Destiny tested them once and again, playing them fatigued, leaving them mercilessly bleeding and bruised. They had openly defied the prophecy, defied expectations again and again. The myths in the book spun a weave of stage of characters and actions to create their paths. However, they never bowed in defeat to prewritten fables past old. Their future was theirs to forge, their story had yet to end.

“I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> And they live happily ever after as monster boyfriends. 
> 
> -
> 
> twt: younghodery


End file.
